Protein-Calorie Malnutrition Impairs the Anti-Viral Function of Macrophages

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Abstract
Mice normally resistant to infection with Wesselsbron (WBV) virus became rapidly susceptible to disease after being placed on a protein-depletion diet. After i.p. inoculation large amounts of virus appeared in the circulation followed by fatal encephalitis. In normally fed mice only small amounts of virus could be detected in blood and no disease developed. Local defense mechanisms which normally restrict the extent of infection may be sensitive to the early effects of protein-calorie malnutrition. This was partly due to impaired antiviral function of macrophages under these conditions as confirmed by in vitro macrophage studies. Over the course of 24 h, infectious WBV disappeared after inoculation onto cultures of normal macrophages whereas infectivity persisted at high titers in macrophages from protein-depleted mice.

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